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Monday, 30 December 2013

Christmas is a time of year for families and making memories that you live with throughout everything that life will throw at you. Making memories is something that's always been important to me so I tend to jump at the chance at going out and doing things.

A few days ago me and my whole family (impressive in itself - what with work schedules and the such like) ventured into London to see the Christmas lights.. It's becoming a sort of family tradition that we go up and spend the day together and visit various places around the city - it doesn't matter as long as we're together...

This year it was Regent Street and WinterWonderland in Hyde Park. (Can't miss a chance to hit the sales in the big flagship stores!!) And although it was packed out, and slightly cold, most importantly memories were made.

Friday, 27 December 2013

With Christmas finally done and dusted - until we all start thinking about it again in 250 odd days - I wanted to look back on the amazing things I've done, namely my trip to the Big Apple.

Now I know that it was a few years ago, but it was honestly the trip of a lifetime and I will treasure the memories for the rest of my life.

The journey began when nan asked if I could go anywhere, where would I go? To which I obviously replied New York. Tickets were booked, bags were packed, and off me and Nan went on our transatlantic journey.

We were only away for a few day but we did it all, cramming as much into our time as we possibly could. Shows on broadway (both Mary Poppins and JerseyBoys - see both if you ever get the chance), my birthday present - a helicopter flight up the Hudson and over the city, a visit to Tiffany & co, Macys and Bloomingdales, and a horse drawn carriage ride around Central Park. We lived as proper New Yorkers for the days and explored the city in our free time. It was the most amazing time.

I know that I'm incredibly lucky to have even had the chance to have an adventure like this and the memories I have made with Nan that I know will live me forever. Well into my future.

Monday, 23 December 2013

So we are reaching the end of yet another year, time seems to be flying. (although I'm forever being told that time gets faster the older you get - I hope not, there's not enough hours in the day already!!)

At the end of every year, I sit and have a little think about the small things that I have managed to achieve over the year and where I want to be this time next year.... (Although I confess, it all gets very confusing because generally I work on an academic year rather than a proper one)

So far this year I have:
-Passed year one of university.
-Been promoted.
-Presented a presentation in front of a class and not had a huge freakout. (Stage fright has always been a bit of a weakness with me...)
-By some miracle manage to get myself a BF who puts up with me being the biggest kid ever.
-Realised that you can't always make everyone happy, and in doing so have become a lot happier and more laid back.
-Learnt that I'm a little bit grownup and can call up Gas/Electricty companies without a problem (Sad but true!)
-And probably a ton of other such little things that have made everything that little bit better.

I have so much that I want to achieve next year too, the list just keeps growing and growing! And I am totally determined that I will achieve more of the list than I usually manage. Sitting on a sofa munching of chocolate will not help me achieve any of it. So watch this space readers, because I'm again taking you every step of the way!

Wednesday, 18 December 2013

Me and my BF making memories in the freezing
cold after yet another of my mad ideas!

Memories are the things that are most valuable in life - to me anyway. You could give me all the material things but they just don't compare with the making of memories that you can look back on...

I have lots of great things that I'm lucky to have done (Read some of them; here,here and here!) and all I aim to achieve in my life is the chance to go out and do more. I want to experience as much as possible and achieve everything that I can possibly can.

I'm lucky that I have a group of people around me that support and will help me do this! Just means that all of you who actually read my ramblings will have to put up with a dedicated blog about any adventures in the meantime!

Tuesday, 17 December 2013

Traffic is always one of those thing that has the ability to instantly drive me up the wall - that and bring out my somewhat severe case of road rage... Honestly, it's practically a medical condition, and it's not my fault that other people can't drive!

Yesterday was the day I was looking for for a while, I was driving up to see the BF and stay with him for a few days before Christmas seeing as I've broken up for my Christmas holidays (yey!) I figured that I could even fit in a quick lunch with a flatmate from back at university... Why not visit everybody while you can?!

Except things are never that easy... Recently I've been having a few 'issues' with my car... As in my car seems to have taken on the persona of Herbie and will only idle when he feels like it. Brilliant! This made me starting my journey a little bit of a worry but for some unknown reason, Herbie started just fine and we set off for what I thought would be an easy drive...

Wrong!

Driving takes me on the road from hell - the m25 - where I crawled all the way around. Not at all fun in any way, shape, or form... Then coupled with a car the has spun out into some trees made me realise that driving is dangerous. I know it sounds stupid.but I don't think young driving squire realise how dangerous it really is....

My hour journey took me two. But the safe driving meant that even if I was late, I was alive.

We need to make sure that people realise. Thinking driving, stay safe.

Friday, 13 December 2013

With Christmas around the corner, everyone is busy buying Christmas presents and trying to make sure that they haven't forgotten anyone. This inevitably means that the high street is a nightmare. The queues stretch from one end of the shop, to the other. There's the frazzled shoppers who get stressed at lack of presents and lengthy queues. It is always my idea of hell....

To combat this I've got organised (Ha! Me being organised is nothing short of a miracle!) majority of my presents are bought and wrapped, just leaving me the last few difficult ones. They're the ones that you have literally no idea what get - a boyfriend, a dad or a rather distant relative. It gets even harder when you count the fact that I like my presents to be slightly quirky but still be perfect. (Evidently I like to make it harder for myself....)

The big question is what do you get someone who has everything. This is where iwantoneofthose.com comes in. An online site full of anything and everything that would make amazing presents for even the most alternative loved-one.

On account of my organisation - or lack of for the rest of the year - and the fact I've pretty much done my shopping, I thought I'd give the waterproof notebook a try and see how it was (Thinking of it as a pre-Christmas present?). And I was surprised. Pleasantly so.

Growing up, you're always told that paper and water should be kept miles apart and that reading in the bath is a incredibly risky - I've yet to drop a book I'm reading in the water.... - but with IWOOT there is genuinely no risk. You can write underwater, submerge the book completely and still have the same writing ability as you would with a standard dry notebook. MINDBLOWN! (This is definitely going to be kept in the shower so I can ponder life and make notes. No more forgetting anything for me!

So if you're struggling for ideas, don't want to battle the high street, fancy Christmas shopping in your pj's and want to have your gifts delivered home before Christmas visit iwantoneofthose.com!

Thursday, 12 December 2013

Last Christmas, before we all broke up for the holidays we decided to do something as a group to celebrate the fact we'd actually made it through the first semester and hadn't been kicked out/starved/got lost in the madness.

So we decided to go ice skating (best idea ever!) at a temporary rink set up at GunWharf Quays. The tickets had been booked for over a week and as the date got closer, quite sadly we got more and more excited. We all donned our hats, gloves and scarfs and braced ourselves against the bitter southern elements....

We started skating with the more experienced ones helping the less experienced - who landed up out skating the rest of us! Then it happened. The heavens opened and we all got soaked. Realistically it was sods law, and we should have predicted it but the more we skated, the more it rained until we gave up - no one likes being soaked through - and headed for the best refuge a student could ever want... a bar serving cocktails.

Our night then went down the usual route, but its safe to say that this evening will always be one that I remember..

Wednesday, 11 December 2013

I'm sat here late night watching the people I now know as my extended family, cook, bicker and laugh - there is even a little bit of dancing.

It's scary to think that we've only known each other a year and a bit yet we all live like a family... Don't get me wrong my flatmates drive me up the wall at times (I struggle with a really really messy kitchen....) but then I suppose its as short lived as any minor arguments that any other blood related family.

I know that my time so far at university would not have been any where near as amazing if I had not had this mad bunch of 11 around me.

Tuesday, 10 December 2013

Every child has a favourite book that they remember from their childhood, and today I thought I'd share with you my favourites... The Very Hungry Caterpillar - evident from all my food posts recently? - and any of the Dr Seuss' books including Green Eggs & Ham.

Last year on one of my rare weekends off, me and a flatmate spent the weekend in bed watching films, got up as the sun set and had green eggs & ham as our main meal of the day. Not going to lie, it was a weekend of memories and this was the recipe that I learnt - told you in a previous post I would and here it is!

What you will need for the Green Eggs & Ham:
- 110g plain flour
- 2 eggs
- pinch of salt
- 200 ml of milk mixed with 75ml of water

Monday, 9 December 2013

I've been counting down to Christmas for weeks, but it finally feels like we're getting somewhat closer!

The Christmas music & grotto have opened up at work, I have a valid excuse to each chocolate every morning which I get up (Thankyou, advent calendar) and the university house is beginning to get decorated. You can see the photo of my landing decoration on the right... You name it we have attempted to have it.... the BF seems to think I've gone a little over board but realistically, we could have been a whole lot worse... (He didn't see how excitable I was when we went shopping for decorations!)

Now that last one is a little bit more special because we're not really here when we get to Christmas... We break up and majority of us are going home for the 3 weeks... back to home cooked dinners, and washing being done for us - I'm hoping anyway! - yet we still decided to begin to celebrate together. Last year we had a pre-Christmas Christmas dinner with all the trimmings... cooked in an oven that didn't really cook, but we managed it and we all ate together like a family. Christmas definitely being the time to spend with families and loved ones.

Somewhere over there is a photo of our 'Christmas tree' - using the word tree in the loosest sense of the word there..... Its sitting pride of place in our kitchen and we're all rather fond of it - after all how often does it look like this!?

Friday, 6 December 2013

Late last night the world lost a great man. A father of his country. A revolutionary of his generation. A man who stood for what he believed. Nelson Mandela died after a long fight with a lung infection.

Now I'm not particularly good at history, but I know that Nelson Mandela suffered in jail for 27 years just for standing up for what he believed in and for me, this is totally wrong that anyone should be punished for fighting for what they believed in. I understand that times have changed and there is now no longer such an issue between the different ethnicities but the issue of injustice still lives on.

The injustice should have been eradicated along time ago.

Nelson Mandela died after making a mark on the world. We as a globe need to make sure that the lessons learnt in his lifetime live on and that we never go back to a time of hate.

Thursday, 5 December 2013

Before you read any further, I feel I should confess something. This is yet another blog post about food. I'm not obsessed about food in any way shape or form, I swear....

Today we were discussing the most important meal of the day. Dinner seemed to be the general consensus, but I figured something different.... Breakfast is.

I'm like most students and I know that when I don't have breakfast very often don't have breakfast if I have an early start - I genuinely don't have time... - but it seriously to me is the most important meal. It basically sets you up for the whole entire day and helps maintain a regular metabolism... **Insert the rest of that spiel here**

Seriously though, who can turn down a breakfast like this? Sausage, bacon and eggs with toast. Perfect (minus the eggs for me. They really tend to freak me out.)

I am forever trying to remind everyone that breakfast does exist and that their day will go so much better if they start the day with their body fuel.

It doesn't even have to be a full fry up. A piece of toast or a yoghurt is a good start. or even green eggs and ham if your feeling really adventurous*.

I don't debate that dinner is important. As is lunch. And a healthy amount of chocolate and other such baddies. But do the right thing, set yourself up for the day.

Tuesday, 3 December 2013

I'm one of those people who gets incredibly bored with food incredibly quickly so am always trying to find new easy recipes that don't take forever because I don't have the time or energy when I get in from a late lecture.... and realistically I don't want to keep buying takeaway - they're expensive & totally not great for me.

I have come up with the perfect solution for a quick and easy 'pizza'!

- 1 x sheet of ready roll puff pastry.
- 1 x carton/tin of chopped tomatoes.
- variety of toppings... I use mozzarella cheese and sliced tomatoes but I've seen it with mushrooms and ham. You could use anything.

Heat over to 200'C
Slightly grease a baking tin.
Roll the pastry onto the tray.
Spread the chopped tomatoes on the middle of the pastry, leaving about 1/2 an inch of pastry plain along each edge.
Go mad with toppings. I tend to layer slices of mozzarella and slices of tomato over the chopped tomatoes.
Place in the oven until the pastry has 'puffed' and it is cooked all the way through. You can always turn the temperature down if it begins to burn.
Serve & enjoy!

Quick tip - You could always scale these down into small bitesize squares to serve as finger food at parties!

Monday, 2 December 2013

I'm a sucker for a pretty view and genuinely love nothing more than watching the sun set in a myriad of pinks, oranges and blues. I regularly land up taking photos of the sunset and then sharing them with all you lovlies.

Above is a photo taken by the BF of the Portsmouth war memorial as we drove home from the swimming pool - that's a story in itself* - when I was struck by the beauty of this particular sunset (Soppy, I know!) and decided to share it.

*The BF's been suffering from a back problem for the last few weeks and it was suggested that walking in a pool of water might re-strengthen the muscles in his back. So as the dutiful girlfriend, I went with him... I'd just like to point out I don't tend to make habit of swimming, even on holiday - give me a sunbed and some sunshine and I'm more than content...

About Me

Spends my life travelling between home and work on the Hampshire/Surrey border and my other home in Portsmouth for University. Happiest when I'm spending time with my family, my university 'family' & friends.
Tweet me on Twitter: @Drurykat
Drop me an email: Gingersnapblogger@gmail.com